Thompson gala, auction kick off 2013 Tommy Toy Fund

Saturday

Nov 23, 2013 at 8:32 PMNov 23, 2013 at 8:32 PM

By John Penneyjpenney@norwichbulletin.com (860) 857-6965

THOMPSON — Inside the Raceway Restaurant in Thompson on Saturday, Patti Burke marked a white sheet of paper in front of a new Crock-Pot, one of dozens of items up for auction as part of the 4th Annual Northeastern Connecticut Holiday Gala which kicked-off the official start of The Bulletin’s Tommy Toy Fund gift drive.

Burke, a Pomfret resident, said she’d attended previous galas. This year, she left empty-handed but undeterred.

“It’s a remarkable charity,” she said. “And I’m here to do whatever I can to help.”

The gala in past years has raised about $14,000 annually for the charity, which helps buy gifts for needy children across Eastern Connecticut. Rand Joly, the gala’s committee chairman, said organizers made a few changes to this year’s auction in an effort to attract more bidders. The auction was held on a weekend afternoon instead of a Friday evening, and two hundred complimentary tickets were passed on to local Rotary clubs and chambers of commerce.

“We also reduced the ticket price,” Joly said. “The idea if to get people spending money at the auction.”

Approximately 80 attendees munched on crudités and meandered past long tables filled with sports memorabilia, autographed movie posters and brochures advertising two African safari getaways — which went for $2,000 each — and overnight hotel stays.

“I’m willing to go up to $500 on the hockey package,” he said. “But it’s really all about the kids. I just can’t stand to think of a child waking up on Christmas and not seeing gifts under the tree.”

Joly called the gala “an evolving event.”

“We try to put a variety of items up for bid,” he said. “It started out primarily sports-related items, and has grown. I think next year, we’re going to make an effort to attract some corporate sponsorships. The committee feels it’s very important to bring in as many local dollars as we can.”

This year’s gala was dedicated to the memory of veteran Bulletin reporter and Tommy Toy Fund co-founder Don Bond, who died earlier this year.

Killingly resident Walt Zadora, who knew Bond for decades, said it’s tough to imagine the fund without Bond’s stern oversight.

“This fund is something that began as an idea and blossomed into an event, one that’s taken on a life of its own,” he said. “And everyone that knew Don knew he as the driving force behind it. He was the one out at and writing about the boot drives and putting donation containers on local businesses’ counters.”